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Clean Water Act Developments
Christine Wyman will discuss EPA’s final Section 401 Water Quality Certification Rule, which aims to provide structure and limits on how States consider whether discharges from federally permitted projects will impact water quality. Daniel Pope will provide an update on...
This month's topic: Texas Title V and Permits by Rule
On May 29, 2020, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced programmatic changes to the Texas Title V operating permits program relating to how Texas Title V permits incorporate Permit by Rule (PBR) preconstruction authorizations. Join Bracewell partner Whit...
Environmental Audit Opportunities to Consider for Return-to-Work in the Wake of COVID-19
As regulated companies and facilities around the country consider their approaches to partially or even fully returning to the workplace – even essential facilities that have remained open but with limited staffing – it seems inevitable that they will discover...
Clean Water Act News: Final Rulemaking Defining Waters of the United States Released
On April 21, EPA published the revised definition of “Waters of the United States,” or “WOTUS,” in the Federal Register . WOTUS is a lynchpin phrase in the Clean Water Act that determines the jurisdictional reach of multiple agencies. The...
EHS Self-Auditing: Effectively Utilizing Privileges to Protect Your Findings
Assessing compliance with EHS-related requirements is fundamental for industry, not only to validate compliance assurance efforts, but to help prevent, or at least minimize, enforcement exposure. At the same time, however, candid evaluations give rise to other risks in the...
COVID-19: EPA Enforcement Discretion Policy
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a policy memorandum on the exercise of enforcement discretion due to the evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Susan Parker Bodine, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance...
RMP Rule: What's Going On?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted revisions to the federal Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule in December 2019, undoing some – but not all – of the program changes adopted in the final days of the Obama administration. Please...
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act: Flight of Fancy or Enduring Change?
The Trump Administration has issued a proposed rule, 85 Fed. Reg. 5915 (February 3, 2020), that would codify its interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), 16 U.S.C. 703 et seq., as applying only to the direct take of...
Navigating Waters Protection Rule
Long-watched by businesses affected by the jurisdictional scope of the Clean Water Act, the Administration’s rulemaking for Waters of the United States has been announced and will soon be final. Please join Sara Burgin, Ann Navaro, and Daniel Pope as...
The Global Sustainable Finance Movement
The present and future impacts of climate change, human rights violations, environmental, labor and regulatory violations and poor corporate governance on the quality of investments and credit risks have spurred widespread recognition of the importance of environmental, social and governance...
NEPA "Neat": The Proposed Rule, Distilled
The Administration has just issued a proposed rule that would amend the federal regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA applies to nearly every federal action of consequence, including federal projects, permits for private activity, grants, funding decisions...
Why Should I Care About the Federal Review Process as Long as I get my Permit?
In this webinar, we discussed why it is critical to actively participate in and influence the review process leading up to a federal permit decision. Getting a permit quickly may not be sufficient if the agency has made basic mistakes...
Environmental Enforcement Defense 101
The federal and state environmental agencies have a vast array of enforcement tools with which they seek to impose penalties or require significant capital and process improvements on the part of the regulated community in circumstances where the agencies identify...
EPA Repeals Obama Rule Defining Waters of the U.S.
On Thursday, September 12, EPA General Counsel Matt Leopold announced EPA’s final rule repealing the 2015 Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) Rule. Significantly, General Counsel Leopold did not announce the final replacement WOTUS Rule, which was proposed in February...